"
"Don't you be in a hurry," said Bonteen. "I'll bet you a sovereign
Finn votes with us yet. There's nothing like being a little coy to
set off a girl's charms. I'll bet you a sovereign, Ratler, that Finn
goes out into the lobby with you and me against Monk's bill."
Phineas, not being able to stand any more of this most unpleasant
raillery, got up and went away. The club was distasteful to him, and
he walked off and sauntered for a while about the park. He went down
by the Duke of York's column as though he were going to his office,
which of course was closed at this hour, but turned round when he
got beyond the new public buildings,--buildings which he was never
destined to use in their completed state,--and entered the gates of
the enclosure, and wandered on over the bridge across the water. As
he went his mind was full of thought. Could it be good for him to
give up everything for a fair face? He swore to himself that of all
women whom he had ever seen Mary was the sweetest and the dearest and
the best. If it could be well to lose the world for a woman, it would
be well to lose it for her. Violet, with all her skill, and all her
strength, and all her grace, could never have written such a letter
as that which he still held in his pocket.
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